Read Welcome to Sugartown for Free Online

Vanessa Carter’s party in year nine.”
    Holly rolls
her eyes. “Are you ever going to get over that? I told you, I was
standing in the hall and he just happened to fall onto my lips. It
wasn’t my fault that the place was so crowded you could barely
breathe without making out with someone. And I thought you said
this wasn’t a date.”
    “ It’s not. I
mean, it is, but it’s not. I don’t know. He makes me all
twitchy.”
    “ Aww, you
really like him.”
    It’s my turn
to roll my eyes. “He’s all kinds of wrong for me,
Holly.”
    “ Who cares?
No one’s asking you to marry him.”
    “ He’s
trouble. Exactly the kind of guy I should avoid.” I sigh. She’s
looking at me like I just strung up her kitten as a Christmas
ornament. “You know what this town is like. Within five minutes of
walking into that pub tongues will be wagging and Sugartown will be
rife with gossip. You know how antsy my dad gets with talk like
that? The next time Constable Davis sees him throwing down, he’ll
be locked up for weeks.”
    “ Ana, this is
exactly why you need a distraction like Elijah. Between Sam, your
dad, the dragon and the shop you have too much stress in your life.
If you don’t blow off a little tension, you’re gonna explode! And I
am not cleaning up chunks of Ana from the shop floor.”
    “ And you
don’t think a date with Elijah’s just going to add to the
stress?”
    “ Not with
those hands, he’s not. I wonder what kind of orgasm face he makes?”
she asks and performs some kind of facial gymnastics. Either that,
or she’s having a stroke. I’m kicking myself that my phone is in
the other room, because moments like this should be documented for
all time. “Ooh, oh, take a picture of it for me, will
you?”
    “ You are
sick. You know that, right?”
    “ Yep.” She
leaps off the bed and scoops up a black top that I’d been
considering. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a hot date with
Zac Effron. He is so freaking hot post High School Musical . I wonder what
kind of face Zac makes? Wear the white top, not the yellow, it
makes your boobs look bigger and don’t forget to take pictures. I
wanna see how far down those tattoos go.”
    After she
leaves I apply a little make-up and consider pinning up my hair,
but then I think about dealing with the helmet hair that’s bound to
have me fussing all night and I decide to tie it in a loose knot at
the back of my head until we pull up at the pub.
    When I’m
done, I hear Elijah’s bike on the gravel drive outside. I tear
through the house, scooping up an over the shoulder bag and my
helmet from the kitchen table.
    I open the
door and Elijah’s standing before me with his hand raised to knock.
He gives me a startled smile. “Hi.”
    “ Hi,” I
reply.
    I start to
pull the door shut behind me and he looks over my shoulder, “Your
dad home?”
    “ No. He and
the dragon left already.”
    “ Okay. You
ready?”
    “ Yeah. Let’s
go.” I breeze past him.
     

     
     
    I knew my
entrance with Elijah would cause a stir. Walking into the only pub
in town with the newest resident sexy biker after you’ve been
labelled the town whore is bound to make waves. The stares and
silence that ensued were deafening. And thank god my dad was down
at the river or Constable Davis would be making good on his
threat.
    “ We shouldn’t
have come here,” I whisper to Elijah as he takes my hand in his and
leads me to the privacy of the pool room—and, by privacy, I mean
not-at-all-private, as there are at least two walls that open out
to the main bar.
    “ No one’s
looking at you, Ana, they’re looking at me and I’m used to it. If
I’m not worried, then you shouldn’t be either.” He takes out his
wallet from his back pocket and lines four coins up along one end
of the pool table, securing it as ours for the next good long
while. “You know how to rack ’em?”
    I nod and
bite down on my lip to avoid the smile that wants to spring forth.
If there’s